Chapter 35: Angelina’s Phantom Demon Game

“So, how much did you actually spend?”

Finally, after putting away the card, I, who had been about to cook, recalled a crucial question I had overlooked.

I immediately fixed her with a serious gaze and asked.

“Not much…”

Upon hearing my inquiry, she promptly averted her eyes.

“Spill it!”

Sensing something amiss, I quickly turned her head back to face me.

“How much did you spend, exactly?!”

“Not much, just a few hundred Silar…”

Angelina sheepishly turned her face away again, but this time, she finally uttered a number.

“Exactly how many hundred Silar?”

My heart felt as though it were bleeding; a few hundred Silar could fund several low-level missions.

It had been almost half a month since we rented our place, and we had only earned a little over four thousand Silar in total.

After deducting rent, repaying Amos and his companions, and covering daily expenses, our current savings amounted to less than three thousand Silar.

This amount alone represented at least ten percent of our total!

However, my intuition warned me it wasn’t that simple, as Angelina had clearly been hiding something when she spoke.

I held two bird eggs in my hands, but I couldn’t bring myself to cook just yet.

“How many hundred Silar, precisely?”

Seeing her remain silent for a long moment, I grew anxious and pressed her further.

“N-nine…”

Unable to withstand my relentless questioning, Angelina reluctantly forced out the truth.

“Nine hundred and ninety-eight…”

*Splat!*

One of the bird eggs dropped to the floor, yet surprisingly, it didn’t shatter, instead rolling with a soft thud into the corner beneath the bed.

Wind Dancer Bird eggs were indeed remarkably resilient.

“Where did you even get all that money?”

After finally calming the shock in my heart, I suddenly recalled that she typically earned less than 300 Silar for a day’s worth of missions.

Moreover, after receiving her pay and setting aside pocket money, the remainder was usually tucked into a hidden compartment beneath her pillow.

Could it be…

Seeing me on the verge of tears as I rushed to search under the pillow, Angelina knew she could no longer conceal the truth and would soon be exposed.

She quickly confessed her mistake.

“I’m sorry, it’s my fault. I took the money I kept under the pillow.”

I pulled out all the money from beneath the pillow, only to find a mere few hundred Silar in total.

“The amount isn’t right!”

I looked at her, bewildered.

Hadn’t she said she spent 998?

Our savings had been nearly 3000 yesterday; how could there be so little left?

“Because…”

Angelina let out an awkward chuckle at my expression, then slowly pulled another card from her clothes pocket.

Unlike the previous one, this card depicted an Eight-Winged Angel.

“I also bought one more…”

*Splat!*

Another bird egg dropped to the floor.

“That’s for liking angels!”

“That’s for buying cards!”

“And that’s for buying two!”

As if the long-bearded leopard meat on the cutting board were Angelina herself, I chopped it with furious precision, feeling as though I might explode with anger.

The money we had painstakingly saved for half a month was largely gone in an instant.

I had been wrong; I had underestimated Angelina’s inherent “rich young master” tendencies.

I had foolishly believed she had changed her ways after transmigrating, only to discover that it hadn’t taken long for her to reveal her true nature of spending money like water.

“Flora, I was wrong!

I promise I won’t waste money like this again next time.”

Yet, the culprit behind me continued to profusely apologize.

Initially, I had considered punishing her by forbidding her from eating, but then I remembered that some of that money was her own earnings, and such a punishment would be unfair.

Ultimately, I let the matter drop.

“Why are you apologizing?

Some of that was your own money, after all.

How you choose to spend your own money is none of my concern.”

I huffed, utterly unwilling to deal with her any longer.

“Anyway, your ‘ring’ has now become two inflatable angels.

You might as well take them with you on your missions; having them help carry things wouldn’t be so bad.”

I spoke with biting sarcasm, mocking her.

It was ironic, considering Angelina had constantly expressed her desire to buy a storage ring, yet now her savings were virtually wiped out, leaving her to start over from scratch.

“They’re not just inflatable dolls; they have other uses too!”

To my surprise, upon mentioning the two cards, Angelina grew excited again and immediately protested her innocence.

“Oh really?

What other uses?”

My curiosity was piqued once more.

To be honest, I had been quite stunned the first time I saw the cards, and it would be a lie to say I wasn’t interested.

However, the more pressing matter was saving enough money to purchase a storage ring, so such recreational toys could certainly wait until we were financially stable and free from economic pressure.

“Well, it’s rather complicated to explain out of nowhere right now.

I’ll have to take you to see it tomorrow for you to understand.”

Angelina wore another mysterious expression, and I could tell she hadn’t learned her lesson at all; her attitude simply screamed, ‘I’ll definitely change next time, and definitely mess up again after that.’

A little while later, the meal was finally prepared and served on the table.

Tonight’s dishes included stir-fried Sunrise Cabbage, long-bearded leopard meat stir-fried with basil, and a fried Wind Dancer Bird egg soup.

With one meat dish, one vegetable dish, and a soup, it felt quite nutritionally balanced.

After many days, I had finally figured out how to cook Chinese cuisine using ingredients from this world, freeing us from eating only Western food.

The only regret was the absence of rice, which meant bread had to suffice.

Frankly, I thought the taste was only mediocre, unsure if it was due to my cooking skills or the ingredients themselves.

Angelina, however, didn’t mind at all.

Accustomed to Chinese food, she was delighted to eat similar dishes in this异世界, constantly praising my cooking.

Since someone appreciated it, I was quite pleased, and so I took on the responsibility of cooking dinner every evening, though occasionally we would still go out to try different flavors.

The next day, during a moment of leisure, Angelina led me to the shop where she had indulged in her extravagant purchases.

Although I had passed its entrance countless times, this was my first step inside.

The shop’s name was unremarkable: “Summerfield’s Entertainment Room.”

Upon entering, it felt like an ordinary supermarket, with shelves displaying numerous items of unknown purpose.

“What is this used for?”

Curiously, I picked up a bead the size of a glass sphere and read its labeled name: “Wisdom Orb.”

“No idea.”

Angelina glanced at it, then shook her head.

“What about this one?”

I then picked up another triangular, dice-like object, whose name, surprisingly, was indeed “Rempris Die.”

She remained clueless about that one too.

“If you don’t know anything about these items, how did you even think of coming here to buy Phantom Demon Cards?”

I couldn’t help but question her series of responses.

“Because yesterday at the Adventurers’ Guild, I saw a few people gathered, discussing something…”

Angelina, seemingly intrigued by the goods on the shelves, continued to fiddle with them.

“So I went over and took a look, and then they recommended this shop to me…”

I could already imagine the rest: knowing her usual habits, she must have walked straight into the shop and asked the owner to see the Phantom Demon Cards.

Just then, a magnificent red double door at the far end of the shop swung open, and out walked a gentlemanly man—tall and slender, with an eight-shaped mustache and a tall hat.

“Ah, Miss, you’ve returned!”

Upon seeing Angelina, the man instantly became effusive, his face beaming with smiles as he hurried towards us.

“It seems you’ve brought another companion today?”

“Yes, we wanted to see your… that thing…”

Angelina’s reply seemed unpracticed; she even struggled to recall the appropriate term when stating her purpose.

“Oh!”

The man, who appeared to be the shop owner, was remarkably professional and immediately grasped her meaning.

“You wish to play a few rounds?”

“Play a few rounds?”

Hearing this, my mind immediately jumped to unsavory thoughts, and I shot Angelina a sidelong glance.

“It’s not what you’re thinking.

You’ll understand once we go inside the room.”

Seeing my suspicious expression, Angelina immediately defended herself, then seized my hand and pulled me through the double doors.

Beyond the doors lay an entirely different world: a vast, open space, exquisitely decorated, with even the lighting provided by a circular, transparent domed ceiling.

This could no longer be called a room; it was undeniably a grand hall, spanning at least several hundred square meters.

“It’s actually so spacious inside!”

I couldn’t suppress my astonished expression; from the outside, there had been no hint of its true scale.

Numerous people were present, either seated or standing around various tables scattered throughout the hall.

“What do you think?”

Angelina excitedly looked at me, then led me towards a nearby table.

“Are you sure this isn’t a gambling den?”

As she dragged me along, I surveyed our surroundings; no matter how I looked at it, the atmosphere here was remarkably similar to the casinos on Earth.

However, the games played at these tables didn’t seem to involve roulette or poker; many even had transparent covers over them.

“Er, there’s a slight difference.”

Angelina said no more, and we approached a giant table that resembled a strategic wargaming platform, where two other people were already standing on the opposite side.

I watched as she inserted the Eight-Winged Angel card into a slot on the table’s edge.

Soon, a minuscule Eight-Winged Angel materialized within the miniature mountainous terrain at the center of the platform, complete with an arrow marker above its head to ensure visibility.

“See?

Phantom Demon Cards can also be used here.”

She explained to me while manipulating the angel’s movements.

“By using your materialized virtual character to defeat other enemies here, you can earn Phantom Demon Points, which are then stored in your card.”

Before our arrival, the arena was already teeming with various virtual characters, engaged in battles of varying scales across different corners of the map; some were one-on-one duels, while others were chaotic group brawls.

Angelina’s controlled Eight-Winged Angel quickly joined a skirmish near a spawn point, seizing an opportunity to eliminate a low-health human swordsman.

*Ding!*

With a soft chime, the magical digital display in front of her immediately jumped from 18 points to 22.

This was unmistakably an otherworld version of a computer online battle game.

I even observed the Eight-Winged Angel employing skills and moves that it hadn’t possessed when materialized in physical form last night.